Eleven people were killed when a skydiving plane crashed in the northeastern French town of Tomblaine on Sunday, local officials said.
The plane was carrying 11 people when it crashed at 11 a.m. local time while skydiving, said Yves Segui, governor of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region where the plane crashed.
CNN affiliate BFMTV quoted Thierry Péchet, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Independent Nurses Council, as saying that five instructors and five independent nurses were believed to have been killed. The pilot also died in the accident.
Local authorities said police and 50 firefighters were dispatched to the scene in a massive emergency response.
The fatal incident occurred just weeks after a skydiving plane crashed shortly after takeoff in western Missouri, killing 12 people and reigniting a long-standing debate over the regulation of skydiving planes.
In France, Seguy told BFMTV that the plane crashed “almost vertically, right next to a housing development” on the edge of the airfield. “There were many witnesses at the accident scene, including relatives of the victims,” he said.
Segui said there were no bystanders among the victims.
“We are awaiting the arrival of the forensic team to carry out the standard investigation,” Seguy said, adding that the French interior minister was expected to visit the scene on Sunday.
“We stand in solidarity with everyone involved, the emergency services and all the elected officials around me,” Segui added. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.”
A witness to the crash who was driving at the time told Reuters he saw the plane rise into the air and then suddenly veer to the right. “Something clearly went wrong. By the time I arrived at the roundabout, turned around and parked near the fire engine, men were already on the scene trying to put out the fire,” said the witness, who did not want to be named.
“We knew right away that it was over, that everyone died instantly. There was no movement and it was clear that the impact was so intense that there were no survivors,” he added.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarro said the accident was a “terrible tragedy” with a “particularly high” death toll. He also confirmed in X that he would be traveling to Meurthe-et-Moselle on Sunday afternoon.
This story has been updated with additional details.
